3, 2, 5?
by Tellie-Skye
Summary: Cloud and Zack were the best of friends until Zack had to move away, though they still kept in touch. When Clouds mother falls deathly ill and he has no family to fall to Zack all to willing to let Cloud stay with him, even if he does live half way across the country. Full summary inside and main paring: AGSCZ.
1. 1 Death

**Disclaimer****: I own nothing that has to do with Final Fantasy, I am only using the characters and maybe a few other things from the game for my story.**

**Also this is going to be a Yaoi, so don't like don't read. If you have a problem with it and report me I'm not gonna be to happy cause I've already warned you in advance.**

**Main Couple****: Zack/ Cloud/ Angeal/ Genesis/ Sephroith**

**Summary****: Cloud and Zack were the best of friends until Zack had to move away, though they still kept in touch. When Clouds mother falls deathly ill and he has no family to fall to Zack all to willing to let Cloud stay with him, even if he does live half way across the country. So as Cloud takes a chance and moves in with Zack and his older cousin Arieth, how with he adapt to city life and starting a whole new school where theirs more people in his grade than their where in his old school in Nibelheim.**

Cloud knew his mother was quite sick, his mother had been in the hospital for the last year and a half but nothing could of made him ready for what happened on that fateful day. At 3:30 on what was a peaceful Thursday afternoon he had just gotten home from working at the local town supermarket. As he walked around the kitchen he noticed that the receiver on his voice mail receiver next to the phone was flashing brightly, letting him know that their was a message for him to listen to.

Cloud walked to the machine and pressed play, humming lightly as a voice echoed into the quite unit.

_" First message 'Cloud this is Dr Armetia I'm terribly sorry to have to say this but your mothers taken a turn for the worst I think you should come down to the hospital' recorded at 10:39 am"_

_" Second message ' This is Dr Armetia again I don't know if you got my first message yet but you should really come to the hospital, it doesn't look good for your mother' recorded at 12:16 pm"_

Cloud started at the machine in shock as his mind processed what was happening, he quickly bolted up from the chair he was sitting on grabbing his wallet and mobile as the machine continued onto the next message. He grabbed the house keys and left in a hurry leaving the machine on as he ran down the stairs of his apartment building and onto the street. He continued down the street until he finally saw the small hospital appear in front of him as he turned the corner. Since Nibelheim was such a small town you could pretty much get everywhere by walking, and cloud had never felt more grateful about that fact until right now. As cloud rushed into the small lounge area of the hospital he couldn't help but notice the fury of activity as people rushed around the area.

He finally halted to a stop in front of the secretary desk, bending over to catch his breath before asking the lady if she knew which room his mother was in. The lady asked for name of who he was after and as he told her he noticed that for the first since he started talking to her, she looked up from her magazine and looked at him in surprise and pity. She asked him to sit down and said that she was calling up the doctor to talk to him.

Cloud sat down and looked down at the floor, he couldn't believe what was happening he had only visited his mother a couple of days ago and she had been doing so well. She was smiling, her face bright with joy as they walked through the gardens that surrounded the back of the building. He had hoped so badly that she was finally recovering from her illness, but with what he had heard today he had a bad feeling that somewhere along the line she had regressed back to what she was like months ago. As Cloud sat waiting for what felt like hours but really was only about 20 minutes he could help the smile that graced his face as he saw Dr Armetia figure walking towards him. His smile slipped away though as he took in her ragged features. She finally stopped in front of him and as cloud looked up at her he finally noticed that she seemed to be having trouble trying to figure out how to say what ever it was that she had to tell him.

" Cloud I'm really sorry for having to say this but your mother passed away an hour ago" She said it so calmly that at first I couldn't quite understand what she meant, but as her words snuck in I could feel my self tear up.  
She leaned down and hugged me softly as I continued to cry, after a few minutes she helped me up and walked I to one of the more secluded waiting room. As she pushed me down onto the couch she started to explain to me what had happened.

" Around ten this morning your mother had another attack, like normal it started off simple. She was just coughing and having trouble breathing we had moved her to a single room and keep her on oxygen checking up on her every 20 minutes. Unfortunately by 11:30 her conditioned had worsened dramatically, her organs were starting to shut down and she had started to cough up blood. I'd called you a second time by then and every half an hour after that I continued to call you, but as you must know I was not able to contact you. By about one o'clock she had lost conscious and we were doing all we could to keep her alive. I'm really sorry Cloud but her heart stopped, we could end get it to start again and at 2:45 your mother was officially classified as dead."

As Dr Armetia paused in her speech to look at me she once again hugged me around the shoulders, by this time I had stopped sobbing and was only sniffling lightly as she continued on, " As of now your are officially parent less, in normally circumstances your would become a orphan and be fostered off to your closest relatives but since you have no other family and already 16 their really isn't much we can do. My only recommendation is to seek comfort with and close friends you might have, also take the next week or two off school so you can get settled back down. This is quite a sad affair to happen so just take it easy until you have everything figured out of Cloud."

I nodded my head as I stood up rubbing my blood shot eyes as I went to walk out of the room I quickly turned around as the Doctor called my name again.

" I know I probally shouldn't be saying this but Cloud if you feel you need a fresh start then move away," I stared at the doctor in shock as she smiled at me softly before continuing, " your mother and I use to talk about you a bit Cloud and we all know that really you have no friends here. Your a good boy and you deserve some happiness, just because your able to admit to something that many other would try to hide the rest of their life doesn't make you bad. This is a small town and sometimes their not as accepting to thing that are different, so I say you should do what makes you both happy and comfortable."

I just stood their as she walked off down the hallway, I mulled over what she said and well it did make sense. After coming out that I was attracted to men and not women like I should be a lot of the kids in the area decided to make my life miserable. I only really ever had two friends and they both had to move away leaving me alone by myself. Not that I minded at the time since I had my mother but a few years later she had gotten terribly sick and now for first time in my life I finally realized how lonely it was not to have anyone to talk to.

It made me remember when my first true friend Tifa had to move away, she had fallen down one of the mountain sides when we where younger. This had resulted her lefty leg and arm to have serious breaks along the bone and even some major tendon damage. Because of this her father moved them both to Midgar so she get the specialized treatment she need to get back full movement in both her leg and arm. They still kept in touch but it wasn't as often as they use to and a letter in the mail wasn't quite the same thing as being able to actually talk or touch her, like friends do. Then their was Zack, they meet through Tifa when he was 6 and had both hit it off famously. They'd become the best of friends in a matter of months but when his father finally got a job, that was when it all went down hill. It was only shortly after Tifa had left actually and they had both been 10 at the time. He's fathers new job was at the mako medical facility in Midgar. When I found out I was heartbroken even more so then when Tifa had to leave, here my best friend in all the world was leaving me all alone in Nibelheim.

At first I had been terribly angry at him, we fought for what felt like weeks but when it finally came to the day he had to leave, I begged my mother to take me down to the loading station and begged for his forgiveness. I explained to him in my 10 year old way that i wasn't really angry at him. I was sad because I was gonna miss my bestest friend in the whole world and that I really didn't want him to leave me. After that he had hugged me, ruffling my blond locks and called me an idiot. He swore to keep in touch and visit as often as he could, at first it was a letter every now and then and occasionally coming over once a year. As we got older and had both gotten mobiles we were forever texting each other, I'd even gone to Midgar a couple of times learning little bits about the city that made me what to move their even more when i was able to.

When thought about it now I guess i could finally do that, their was nothing keeping me here now and it would be nice to be able to rely on someone else for a change. So as I began my walk back to my apartment i pulled out my phone and flicked down until i reached Zacks contact information. I pulled the phone up to my ear as i continued to walk and dialed his number.

It rang and rang until it puttered off saying in that robotic voice that the caller what not available at the current time. I glanced up and noticed i was finally outside my apartment building, I made my way the stairs and into my apartment. Closing the door behind me I then sat down on the couch. Picking up my phone again I tried Zacks number again but this time I used his house number. It rang through as well but at least I knew I was able to leave a message this time, so as the machine came through and Zack's voice yelled through telling me to leave a message I took a deep breath and began my message for him.

" Hey Zack its Cloud, when your able to can you give me a call. I kinda have some bad news and i would like to have some one to talk to it about, thanks buddy talk to ya laters then" I then closed out of the chat and shut my phone placing it onto the coffe table next to me.

Glancing around the room my eyes fell on the clock and i saw that it was already 7 o'clock. I turned on the T.V. and snuggled into the chair, thinking about what had happened today, I yawed briefly and my eyes hazed over as I sleepily continued to watch the T.V.

I must of eventually fallen asleep because next thing I knew I was raising my head blearily looking around the apartment as I heard a ringing sound. It suddenly stopped and i went to settle back into the chair when it started up again, after a few minutes I finally realized that it was my phone that was ringing and reached across the coffee table and grabbed it. I bought the phone to my hear and softly asked who it was, probably not the smartest idea i ever had i will realize later.

" Cloudy-kins its me your bestest friend Zack, whats wrong bro!" his voice pierced through my sleepy haze and i straightened up as I listened to him ramble on.

"Zack I have some bad news buddy" I said softly to him over the phone. I heard his voice quiet down and as he asked me what was up I couldn't help but notice the concern in his voice.

" Zack she passed away today" I said as tears started to silently fall down my check, I could feel my self start to chock up but i had to continue, " They told me she had another attack but it worsened so badly that her heart stopped. They couldn't get it start again"

Silence followed and just as I was about to break down Zack did something completely unexpected.

"Ok buddy, just wait for me . I'll be down as soon as I can which should probably be sometime tomorrow." He said to me, I could hear him rifling through his room probably packing stuff away for his trip here.

"Zack thank you so much your the best friend a guy could have" I said as I sniffled, wiping my tears away. As we chatted Zack told me all about what he was going to do and we finally agreed that I'd come pick him up from the train station at noon the next day. After he said good bye and hung up on me, I picked up my stuff and shut down the T.V.

Walking down the hall and into the bathroom I slipped out of my pants and t-shirt, stepping into the shower. I sighed as the warm water cascaded down my body, I closed my eyes and leaned against the shower as I planned what I was going to do tomorrow. I let the water flow and with it so did my tears as I relaxed into the wall, after about twenty minutes i finally shut the shower off. I continued to lean against the wall until the warmth from the shower creeped out of my body and I was left shivering slightly, goosebumps covering my body.

Stepping out of the shower I grabbed the fluffy white towel that was hanging on the wall. I wrapped the towel around myself and walked back into the hall, then into my bedroom. I dropped the towel onto the floor and crawled into my bed wrapping the fleece blanket around my body and cushioning my head onto the pillow, I glanced at the chocobo clock on the beside table and smiled. It was only 9:39 meaning I had plenty of time in which to sleep before I had to get up. I yawned and closed my eyes, my breath evened out and I fell asleep.

The next morning cloud woke up to the screeching sound of his alarm clock, as he shot his arm out to stop the sound he couldn't help but wonder why it was going off. As he settled back into bed his mind wandering, he quickly shot up and looked at the time. Shit it was already 11 and he had to pick up Zack from the train station in an hour.  
Cloud then hurried out of his bed and into the bathroom having a quick shower, he then tried but didn't quite succeed in trying to tame his unruly blond lock and brush his teeth at the same time. Cloud then slipped back into his room to change in a baggy pair of military style cargo pants and a simple black singlet. Grabbing his keys and wallet Cloud walked out of his apartment and made his way down to the station.

It was only a short 15 minute walk to the train station from the flat, but it seemed to drag on as everyone Cloud passed stopped him. They all wanted to give him their condolences on his lost and at first I didn't mind but after a while it all my willpower not to snap at them to leave me alone. I was so relived when I got to the station that no one was there that I nearly jumped in joy. I probably would actually if I wasn't so damn tired, even though I got to sleep last night and I did have trouble staying asleep for some reason I just felt exhausted since I've woken up.

I glanced around the station and sat down at one of the wooden benches, to wait for Zack's arrival. I knew I didn't have to long to wait because I could hear the train speeding towards me and after a few minutes I could see the train coming around the corner. The breaks were applied as a high whistling sound was heard as it visibly slowed down before my eyes. It finally pulled to a stop in front of me and the doors opened to let its passengers off.

I waited and watched as half a dozen people where let off the train but none of them had Zack's signature spiky black hair. I looked up and down the station length, hoping to see him get off of one of the other train carts. Just as I was starting to panic a pair of large hands covered my eyes and a very cheerfully familiar voice filtered through my ears.

" Heya their Cloudy-kuns, guess who it is"

I pulled his hands away and smiled at him before cheekily saying, " oh I don't know it ,ought be my friend Zack but you do look awfully like his cousin Areith"

Zack pouted before lifting me up and giving me a quick hug. After setting me down he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the station turning left. I quickly pulled him to a stop and tugged him in the other direction.

" Zack remember I moved. So maybe it would be a good idea if you let me lead us to my new place" I said quietly as I continued to walk in the right direction. After a few turns we had finally made it to my apartment and I lead us up the stairs and opened the door. Zack jumped into the room and then dumped his stuff on the floor. He then went to explore the rest of the apartment yelling out random things as I walked into the kitchen and started on an early dinner.

As I was cooking the pasta and stirring the mince, onion, carrot and herbs Zack walked back into the kitchen.

" Your place is pretty cool Cloudy, so do you need me to do anything for you?" He asked as he slid up behind me and tried to grab some of the meat out of the fry pan. I hit him on the knuckle with the wooden spoon and pushed him out of the way.

" We'll you could grab a couple of plates and cutlery out for us, and don't touch the food until I'm finished. It will only be another 10 or so minutes" I replied to Zack as I stirred in the canned tomatoes and pasta sauce. I left the mixture to simmer as I drained out the cooked pasta and then opened the fridge pulling out two cans of coke. I threw one at Zack and opened my own, slouching down at one of the dinning table chairs.

" Zack I have something serious I have to talk to you about"

" Yeah what is it Cloudy-kuns?"

" I think I might go back with you when you leave," I smiled as I saw Zack stare at me in shock. " Zack I have nothing left for me here no friends and now no family. At least if I go with you I have people I can rely on but not just you, their Arieth and Tifa."

" If its what you really want then I'll help you every step of the way, I mean you could even crash at mine and Arieths place until you can find your own"

"Thanks Zack, do you think you could come with me tomorrow to sort out mums funeral details?"

"Of course I will Cloudy-kuns, I mean what are best friends for" he says as he drapes he arms over my shoulder and gives me a sloppy kiss on my forehead.

I couldn't help it I ended up breaking down and crying on Zack's shoulder, he slid his arms around me and comforted me as I wept. As my sobs turned to little sniffles and the tears stopped streaming down my cheek Zack finally stood up. I looked up at him blearily.

" Come on Cloudy I think it's time we went and got some sleep, we'll sort everything out in the morning and then start packing your stuff up ok"

I nodded at him and stood up slowly letting Zack pull me towards my room, it was just as we got into the room that I remembered that I hadn't gotten around to setting up the futon bed for him yet. Zack must of know what I was thinking because he pushed me down on to the bed and hugged me again before saying.

" I think we can bunch together for tonight ok. I mean its not like me haven't before and I don't really wanna leave you alone, especially with how your feeling at the moment"

" thanks Zack, really are a good friend" I said as I ladies down on the bed curling into the sheets, I watched as Zack walked around and laid down on the other side of the bed he moved so that they were facing one another and also snuggled into the sheets.

The two boys softly spoke about everything, mainly though they spoke about what was upsetting Cloud the most and also Zack couldn't help but excitedly tell Cloud how cool his school was and how he was going to fucking love it their. Eventually though the two boys wore themselves out and fell asleep, both migrating towards the other and hugging the other.

**_So this is my first Final Fantasy story, I've got a bit outline for it but will take ideas if you've got any. If their are any problems just let me know especially if I've spelt someone's name wrong or done something else wrong._**

**_Well please review and hopefully you enjoyed it. I can't promise when the next chapter will be up because I'm currently just gotten back into writing again after not writing really at all for 2 years. I also am redoing my earlier Naruto stories and trying to decide if I should make a second chapter for my new Bleach story I posted recently. So go check them out if ya want to._**

_Thanks for reading Tellie-Skye :D _


	2. 2 New Beginnings

**_Hey guys I know this is a little later then I said it would be but I got it up as quickly as I could. I'm going to draw and then post a link of what the school uniforms will look like so hopefully you guys like my idea. This is kinda just a filler for now until I start the actual story in the next chapter with Clouds first day at school. So enjoy, we'll like always let me know what you think and please I'd love some reviews. Sorry if this sounds like me nagging or begging but I'd love to know if this is actually good or if you all think it shit. So until next time caio._**

The past two weeks had been quite tiring for Cloud. After Zack had arrived the two boys had quickly packed all of Clouds belongings but while doing that Cloud had to deal with the dreadful task of organizing his mothers funeral.

It was quite simple in the end. With the town being so small the death of his mother was quite a shock to most of the people, especially to the inhabitants of the gardening club she had started before she fell ill. They had constantly visited her and many of them viewed his mother as their own or for the elderly ladies as their own daughter. So when the news of her death was out within hours after he was told, Cloud had numerous calls from these ladies all asking how they could help. He explained to a few of the elder ladies, the only ones that had treated him with an kindness, that he didn't know what to do for the funeral.

They ladies graciously took over the role and within four days his mothers funeral was planned and a day was set. Today was the day of the funeral and so far everything had been going as planned. Both Cloud and Zack were in their best clothes and currently cleaning up the area before the funeral would start.

As the clock neared closer to nine o'clock the two boys rushed to get the job done and luckily had it done just before the pastor stepped into the church. Behind the pastor was everyone else and as he made his way down the front of the church the rest of the people moved around until they found a seat.

The affair was quite short and straight to the point just as Clouds mother would of wanted it. The room was overflowing with emotions, mainly that of grief and sadness. Many tears were shed and even though all eyes should of been on the pastor, most were eyeing the young boy in the front with golden blond hair.

No one had seen him cry yet, well nearly no one. The only person so far to see the young boy break down was his best friend Zack. He hand held the younger boy on that first night as he cried his eyes out but after that not a word was said or even tear was shed over his mothers death. In many ways Zack was quite worried about his friend but he new not to push him and he also knew that when the time cam his friend would talk to him about it.

After the funeral the towns people consolidated Cloud on his loss and wished him luck on his move to the city. Many questioned his motives for moving so quickly after his mothers death and each time that happened Cloud would simply with.  
" It will be a new start for me and I will have family there to help me"

Not many knew that cloud had no other family beside his mother that he knew of and the ones that did didn't even question his answer. If they were in the same circumstances than they would do the exact same thing.

By the end of the day the church had been cleaned up, Clouds old apartment building was bare and empty as the day they got it and both boys were both snoozing in the back of the train as they were there way to Midgar.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo break in writing oXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Zack finally emptied the last box of stuff for Cloud on his bedroom floor, Zack couldn't help but grin when he saw some of the stuff that was inside the box. Picking up a Magazine Zack ran into the siting area of the apartment in the boarding house.  
" Hey lookie what I found, our little boy is finally growing up Arieth," Zack exclaimed as he waved the magazine around. Both Arieth, how happens to unfortunately be Zack's cousin and Cloud turned around to see what Zack was yelling about.

A sudden silence deafened the room for two seconds as all three stared at the magazine in varying degrees of shock, amusement and happiness.

Areith was staring at the magazine in amusement her gaze shifting between the picture on the cover and Clouds increasingly blushing face. She couldn't help but giggle as Cloud then jumped up and talked Zack to the ground trying to retrieve it back.

Zack being Zack just laughed manically and rolled away from Cloud, he then sprinted out of the room. The two boys chased each other around the house until finally Arieth stepped in and placed a hand between the two.

"Zack give Cloud back his magazine and don't be teasing him," Arieth said as she smiled up at him sweetly, " and Cloud theirs nothing to be embarrassed about. It's perfectly fine if your gay, actually with how cute you are you'll probably have all the boys after you anyway" Arieth couldn't help but giggle when Cloud started blushing and stuttering at her comment.

Zack grinned and placed his arm over clouds shoulder pulling him into a head lock and giving him a noggie. He then let Cloud go and leaned in close.

" Yeah it's ok buddy no one will really care and the ones that do are just not worth it. And if anything does happen you just let me know and I'll fix them up for ya" Zack finished this off by ruffling up Clouds hair.

Cloud himself couldn't help but smile at his friends who were being more supportive that he thought they would be.

" You guys are great," Cloud said softly and he hugged them both quickly. " Oh by the way have you guys gotten my uniform yet, I'd like to try it on before I start my first day tomorrow if you know what I mean."

Arieth noodled and then quickly headed to the kitchen and then coming back out with a brown package.

"Here you go Cloud, this came this came this morning. I'm pretty sure it's the uniforms were ordered for you since it's from the school office address" Arieth gently passed the package to me smiling gently as I looked at it. " Their is quite a lot their so I'm guessing they included the winter uniform as well"

Cloud thanked her and then quickly went to his room dodging Zack when he tried to pick him up so he could see what his package was. He locked the door behind him and opened up the package.

Cloud tried on all the different pieces to his new school uniform and besides from needing to sow up the bottoms of his long pants since they were two big, it all fit well. Cloud had to also admit that the uniform looked pretty good on him. He was a little disappointed that he had gotten the second uniform meaning he was going to the TURKS section of Shinra high instead of the SOILDER section like Zack and Arieth did.

The TURKS was the unofficial name of the lower part of the school. It was the section the average people went or the ones who didnt have the money to pay for the high fees in the SOILDER part of Shinra. In another words SOILDER was pretty much only for the elite which both Zack and Arieth were.

Arieths mother is a famous herbalist and her father was a famous doctor he discovered the fact that mako was a natural developing mutation that come about from the melting drops of crystallizes water hitting the ground covered bottoms of the caves the crystals formed in. Zack's parents owned one of the largest farming branches on this side of the word, so really it was no wonder they were in the elite section. When they both vouched for Cloud in his enrollment forms Cloud hoped he would be able to be with his friends but I guess that won't be the case.

Clouds glanced at the door as he heard Zack knocking on it so he could know what classes they would have together. If Zack thought they had classes together then he obviously didn't know that he was in the TURKS section.

Cloud opened the door still wearing his uniform and looked at his friend. He couldn't help but smile lightly as he saw Zack stare at him in shock, which only lasted for about a second before Zack swept him into his arms and carried him to the kitchen.

" Arieth our Cloudy-kuns isn't in the same section as us, what are we gonna do? How am I going to be able to watch his cutely adorable but now!" Zack proclaimed as he placed cloud down at a chair and then paced around the room.

" Zqck stop it. Theirs nothing you can do and we already had an idea that would place him there so don't make out that your surprised about this. Now Cloud even though your in the other section we can still interact at lunch times and if we have any spares ok. And theirs some lovely people in that section so don't be to worried"

Cloud nodded and then turned around and placed a hand on Zacks arm to stop his pacing. When Zack stopped and looked at him, Cloud smiled brightly and hugged him.

" It's ok Zack I understand your worried but I'll be fine and I can stick up for myself I've done it for the rest of my life"

Arieth smiled at the two boys and then cleared her throat to get their attention, " so since dinners ready why don't you two boys sit down and then afterwards get ready for bed," Arieth then glared at Zack before he could interrupt her, " since we have a long day tomorrow I think we should go to bed a little early"

Both boys nodded, Cloud in whole hearted agreement and Zack a little glumly since his cousin quite frankly scared him and he never wanted to have her made at him ever again.

The three ate their dinner and also each helped clean up before they went their own way. Arieth tidied up the rest of the place and then quickly changed before getting ready for bed. Zack mopped about slowly doing what he need to do before getting glared at by Arieth and sternly told bed, after that he did as he was told. cloud on the other hand moved everything off his bed making a huge mess with his stuff on the floor that he swore he would clean up later, then clambered into bed snuggling up to his toy chocobo that Zack got him and fell asleep.

**_Tellie-Skye xxx_**

**_Oh also while I remember I've gotten a Twiiter account which I will use to post up when I update but also how my stories are going and a few other things. So you can add me their, the links on my profile. See you all next time :)_**


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